What led you to your current profession? As a child I was always daydreaming about ways to improve the world through planning and design even though I wasn’t really aware of it. One day it occurred to me this was the essence of what architects do. I have specialized in healthcare planning and design for over 18 years because I saw a great opportunity to improve the patient experience and even patient outcomes, but also create a better working environment for all the clinicians that care for them. 

How do you contribute to your community or your profession? Earlier this year, I was honored to be asked to join the AIA COVID-19 Task Force, which created an Alternate Care Sites Assessment Tool for evaluating buildings to be used as temporary healthcare operations during a pandemic. I am now working with the HAIO task force and many of our healthcare clients to create safer environments for patients and staff in existing healthcare facilities. We have also found there are many lessons that can be taken from the healthcare environment to create safer office environments for our corporate clients as they consider bringing people back on site.